1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air-supply module for an internal combustion engine, in which an air cleaner, a throttle body, a surge tank, intake manifold pipes and other components are integrated into a single module that can be mounted on the engine as a single unit.
2. Description of Related Art
Air-supply modules of this kind are disclosed in, for example, JP-A-8-93580, JP-A-8-334070, JP-A-8-210200, and JP-A-6-81735. In the conventional modules disclosed in those publications, a space for inserting tools for mounting the module on the internal combustion engine is not provided. Accordingly, some components such as an air cleaner case and a throttle body have to be once disassembled from the module to provide a space for inserting tools that are necessary for mounting the module on the engine, and after the module is mounted on the engine the once removed components are separately mounted on the module again. Although an advantage of integrating all components into a single module is to simplify the mounting process, the module cannot be mounted on the engine in a single step, but it has to be mounted in several steps. This hampers mounting efficiency.